A Princess and a Pauper
by Ari Akaryuu
Summary: Casey's spent her entire life in big mansions with everything she ever wanted. But after she accepts a bet from her father, she finds herself living as a 'commoner' for her final year of high school. Can she survive it?


**Chapter One**

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><p>Casey Foster's eyes were the same shade of olive green as her grandfather's, but at the moment, Martin's eyes were too bright and mischevious to match the angry fire within his only grandchild's. Currently, those green eyes were trained on him in a glare, the cream colored sofa emphasizing the darkness of Casey's long hair, so similar to her late mother's.<p>

"It's your fault again." she informed him curtly.

Martin bit back a smile. "What do you mean by that?" he asked curiously.

"What I _mean _is that the guy you set me up with was after your money. Again." Casey's scowl deepened.

Her grandfather sighed heavily and sat beside her with all the caution one offered to a skittish horse. "I'm sorry. I meant well by it." Martin frowned.

"I never can tell if guys are dating me for the money that comes with me or... well, me!" Casey groaned and raked a slender hand through her hair. "I'm sorry if I'm being a brat, but it's so dang frustrating!"

"I know, dear. Perhaps you should abandon me after you graduate and throw yourself on the mercy of strangers." Martin suggested, attempting to lighten the mood. It was somewhat effective and earned a slight grin from Casey, a calmer light starting to creep into her eyes.

"Maybe you're right, I could be like Merlyn from Lady Love and find someone like Cameron... minus the whole one-night-stand situation though."

Martin laughed. "That seems like a wonderful idea. Perhaps I could set you up with something like her father did. See how you like the life of a normal person... In fact, I might actually be able to do something like that!"

Casey looked at Martin in surprise and he continued, clarifying the subject.

"Do you remember Mr. Suoh? The rather eccentric man I had over for dinner last month." Upon Casey's affirmation, he continued. "Well, as you know, his son has a bit of a flair for, as he calls them, 'commoner' things. The boy is positively enamoured with them."

"Grandfather, if this is another matchmaking scheme in the making..." Casey began warily. Martin cut her off quickly.

"No, that's not where I'm going with this. I'm merely saying that Suoh and his son - Tamaki, I think his name was - could help us if you want to go through on this plot. I'm sure Suoh'd get a kick out of it too, he likes doing crazy stuff."

"What's your plan?" Casey asked curiously. Martin grinned, eyes twinkling madly.

"Darling, how would you feel about going undercover, as a commoner-girl on scholarship?"

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><p>Three days later, Casey Foster (now under the alias, Casey Greene, her mother's maiden name), found herself moved into the guest room at the second Suoh mansion next door to Tamaki, the commoner-obsessed boy. Unfortunetly, Casey hadn't met Tamaki yet, seeing as he was out with his best friend for the week, so Casey didn't really know her new housemate yet.<p>

The room was luxourious enough, as expected of a millionare's home, and perhaps grander than Casey's own bedroom back at her grandfather's condo, but it lacked a certain kind of gentleness to it that her bedroom posessed. The green eyed girl resolved to avoid the dressers if she could, feeling as if she'd be shredded to pieces by the sharp corners if she even brushed up against them, and headed to the closet to deposit the rest of her things. Her new uniform was already hanging in there, several of them in fact, and Casey eyed them with distaste.

While Ouran clearly held a high standard for its students in the financial class, it certainly held no care for them in the fashion department. Casey's uniform looked like a bad mix of Princess Diana's wedding dress (which said princess had pulled off wonderfully in a way no other woman could) and a dying canary. The teen refused to wear it and scooped the lot out of the closet, depositing them in the sharp-cornered dresser, making a note to avoid the uniforms as well. The dresser was quickly turning into an **Avoid at All Costs** area.

Once the disaster of a uniform was resolved, Casey quickly went through her things, depositing them in the proper places and arranging things to her liking. She finished quickly and found herself sprawled out on her bed - a large, incredibly soft thing with too many pillows.

Casey loved it already.

The Suoh Mansion wasn't quite home yet (she doubted it would ever be), but she felt more at ease with her familiar things poking out at random. One of her teddy bears she had brought with her smiled down from atop the headboard. She smiled back as the sun began to set.


End file.
